Superintendent unveils six-step plan

Published: Thursday, June 12, 2014 at 5:25 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, June 12, 2014 at 5:25 p.m.

This summer the school district will implement a six-step plan to try to improve state test scores, a move that comes a week after it learned Marion students lost ground on the state average in most testing categories.

Facts

Six steps

Superintendent of Schools George Tomyn and his administration have devised a six-step plan to try to improve state test scores after Marion lost ground on the state average in 12 of 16 testing categories this year.Here is the plan, which will be unveiled in stages throughout the summer:• District program specialists currently analyzing data.• District will survey teachers participating in summer professional development or in-service training.• Tomyn will hold 30-minute individual meetings with most principals through June 26.• District will hold a roundtable-type meeting with teachers whose students scored well on this year's test.• District will hold seven feeder-school meetings. There are seven high schools and each have six or so elementary and middle schools whose students feed into that high school.• The district will hold an education mini-conference later this summer for principals and assistant principals to learn ways to improve test scores.

Superintendent of Schools George Tomyn said this week he was not pleased with this year's scores, though there were pockets of success throughout the district.

The district learned in the past two weeks that its third- through 10th-graders lost ground to the state average in 12 of 16 FCAT reading, math and science categories.

"Sewn throughout this message (of implementing a six-step plan) is that we are going to improve instruction for our students," he said. "We feel we need to do a better job at the district level, whether through more professional development or in-service training."

Tomyn said the plan will be enacted in stages over the summer before the 2014-15 school year begins on Aug. 18.

Overall, Marion students trailed the state this year in 15 of the 16 FCAT categories. Though Marion's eighth-graders scored 2 percentage points lower in math than in 2013, they were still 1 percentage point higher than the state average.

Tomyn said last week that despite the lower scores there is evidence that the district is successful. He pointed to Marion's stellar 77 percent graduation rate and 1.7 percent dropout rate. Graduation rate is the percentage of students who graduate on time in four years. Dropout rate is the percentage of students who don't graduate.

This was the last year for FCAT, which will be replaced in 2015 with a new state test created by the American Institutes for Research. It will be based on the new Common Core State Standards.

Here is a more detailed look at the district's six-step plan:

Step 1: The district's program specialists are currently combing over FCAT results to look for trends. Each specialist is responsible for a given subject area, such as reading, math or science.

"This is what principals and faculties do during the summer each year," he noted.

Step 2: Beginning next week, Tomyn will hold 30-minute individual meetings with principals about the testing data. The two-week process should end June 26.

Step 3: The district will survey all teachers who are taking in-service and professional development classes over the summer. The survey will begin as soon as the testing data questions are finalized.

Step 4: The district will invite teachers whose students performed extremely well on the state test to participate in a roundtable-type discussion.

"We want to ask them to help analyze the data and talk in-depth about their strategies," Tomyn said.

Some of those concepts may one day be incorporated into the mainstream classrooms.

Step 5: Tomyn will hold seven feeder-school meetings. In the past, each principal would visit with the superintendent individually in what are called "state-of-the-schools" meetings. This year, all principals within a given high school's feeder system will meet with Tomyn and his staff at the same time.

There are seven high schools and each one has about six or so elementary and middle schools whose students will eventually attend that high school.

Tomyn said he believes it is important that all feeder schools are on the same page to ensure a child is getting the best education from kindergarten through 12th grade.

Step 6: Tomyn is organizing a mini education conference for principals and assistant principals. On a date to be determined, the district will hold a morning general session to be followed by breakout educational sessions geared toward improving test scores.

Tomyn said Belleview High Principal Mike Kelly is hosting a high school conference, which was organized before the test scores were released.

This conference will include high school teachers who want to meet with their peers about teaching strategies. The teachers will be grouped based on the subjects they teach, Tomyn said.

After Tomyn gave a brief sketch of his plan at the end of Tuesday's board meeting, several board members began debating the process.

Board member Ron Crawford recommended 10 days ago that the district hold a teacher roundtable to address disappointing third-grade reading and math scores.

Crawford asked the district to invite second-, third- and fourth-grade teachers from the lower-performing schools to discuss what went wrong and to assess the negative affect it may have in subsequent grades. That roundtable could also identify strategies that are not working, Crawford maintained.

After hearing a brief synopsis of the district's six-step plan on Tuesday, Crawford criticized the administration for not jumping on his roundtable idea. Crawford made it clear that he is not pointing fingers at the administration, staff or teachers. However, he believes immediate action is necessary.

Tomyn said the district will be surveying many teachers and will seek input from the educators whose students did well on this year's test — not the teachers whose students performed poorly.

Board member Nancy Stacy agreed with Crawford, stating the district's new process means teachers will be cherry-picked. Stacy feels that process would likely not yield any useful information.

While School Board Chairman Bobby James agreed teachers need to have a voice in the process, he believes the board should support Tomyn and the plan.

"I feel we need to give the administration the opportunity to work on this plan," James said. "The district should take the lead. I'm afraid we are moving away from creating policy and managing the budget, which is our responsibility, to trying to run all of the schools. That's not our mission."

Contact Joe Callahan at 867-4113 or joe.callahan@starbanner.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeOcalaNews.

<p>This summer the school district will implement a six-step plan to try to improve state test scores, a move that comes a week after it learned Marion students lost ground on the state average in most testing categories.</p><p>Superintendent of Schools George Tomyn said this week he was not pleased with this year's scores, though there were pockets of success throughout the district.</p><p>The district learned in the past two weeks that its third- through 10th-graders lost ground to the state average in 12 of 16 FCAT reading, math and science categories.</p><p>"Sewn throughout this message (of implementing a six-step plan) is that we are going to improve instruction for our students," he said. "We feel we need to do a better job at the district level, whether through more professional development or in-service training."</p><p>Tomyn said the plan will be enacted in stages over the summer before the 2014-15 school year begins on Aug. 18.</p><p>The six-step plan includes: analyzing testing data, surveying teachers, meeting with individual principals, hosting a roundtable with teachers whose students scored well, holding seven feeder-school meetings and hosting an education mini-conference.</p><p>"We will have a busy summer," Tomyn said.</p><p>Overall, Marion students trailed the state this year in 15 of the 16 FCAT categories. Though Marion's eighth-graders scored 2 percentage points lower in math than in 2013, they were still 1 percentage point higher than the state average.</p><p>Tomyn said last week that despite the lower scores there is evidence that the district is successful. He pointed to Marion's stellar 77 percent graduation rate and 1.7 percent dropout rate. Graduation rate is the percentage of students who graduate on time in four years. Dropout rate is the percentage of students who don't graduate.</p><p>This was the last year for FCAT, which will be replaced in 2015 with a new state test created by the American Institutes for Research. It will be based on the new Common Core State Standards.</p><p>Here is a more detailed look at the district's six-step plan:</p><p>Step 1: The district's program specialists are currently combing over FCAT results to look for trends. Each specialist is responsible for a given subject area, such as reading, math or science.</p><p>"This is what principals and faculties do during the summer each year," he noted.</p><p>Step 2: Beginning next week, Tomyn will hold 30-minute individual meetings with principals about the testing data. The two-week process should end June 26.</p><p>Step 3: The district will survey all teachers who are taking in-service and professional development classes over the summer. The survey will begin as soon as the testing data questions are finalized.</p><p>Step 4: The district will invite teachers whose students performed extremely well on the state test to participate in a roundtable-type discussion.</p><p>"We want to ask them to help analyze the data and talk in-depth about their strategies," Tomyn said.</p><p>Some of those concepts may one day be incorporated into the mainstream classrooms.</p><p>Step 5: Tomyn will hold seven feeder-school meetings. In the past, each principal would visit with the superintendent individually in what are called "state-of-the-schools" meetings. This year, all principals within a given high school's feeder system will meet with Tomyn and his staff at the same time.</p><p>There are seven high schools and each one has about six or so elementary and middle schools whose students will eventually attend that high school.</p><p>Tomyn said he believes it is important that all feeder schools are on the same page to ensure a child is getting the best education from kindergarten through 12th grade.</p><p>Step 6: Tomyn is organizing a mini education conference for principals and assistant principals. On a date to be determined, the district will hold a morning general session to be followed by breakout educational sessions geared toward improving test scores.</p><p>Tomyn said Belleview High Principal Mike Kelly is hosting a high school conference, which was organized before the test scores were released.</p><p>This conference will include high school teachers who want to meet with their peers about teaching strategies. The teachers will be grouped based on the subjects they teach, Tomyn said.</p><p>After Tomyn gave a brief sketch of his plan at the end of Tuesday's board meeting, several board members began debating the process.</p><p>Board member Ron Crawford recommended 10 days ago that the district hold a teacher roundtable to address disappointing third-grade reading and math scores.</p><p>Crawford asked the district to invite second-, third- and fourth-grade teachers from the lower-performing schools to discuss what went wrong and to assess the negative affect it may have in subsequent grades. That roundtable could also identify strategies that are not working, Crawford maintained.</p><p>After hearing a brief synopsis of the district's six-step plan on Tuesday, Crawford criticized the administration for not jumping on his roundtable idea. Crawford made it clear that he is not pointing fingers at the administration, staff or teachers. However, he believes immediate action is necessary.</p><p>Tomyn said the district will be surveying many teachers and will seek input from the educators whose students did well on this year's test — not the teachers whose students performed poorly.</p><p>Board member Nancy Stacy agreed with Crawford, stating the district's new process means teachers will be cherry-picked. Stacy feels that process would likely not yield any useful information.</p><p>While School Board Chairman Bobby James agreed teachers need to have a voice in the process, he believes the board should support Tomyn and the plan.</p><p>"I feel we need to give the administration the opportunity to work on this plan," James said. "The district should take the lead. I'm afraid we are moving away from creating policy and managing the budget, which is our responsibility, to trying to run all of the schools. That's not our mission."</p><p><i>Contact Joe Callahan at 867-4113 or joe.callahan@starbanner.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeOcalaNews.</i></p>